


I Hope You're Missing Me

by perplexed (orphan_account)



Series: Florist/Tattoo Artist AU [1]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anthony Centric, Chaptered, Dry Humping, F/M, Florist Anthony, Fluff, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Joven/Mari is a v minor pairing, M/M, Playlist, Smut, Smut only happens in later chapters!, Tattoo Artist Ian, Unconventional Relationship, smut related tags after this one!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:56:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3296195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/perplexed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Anthony was used to getting up early - he’d complained about it as a teenager, but now he was an adult he actually enjoyed the 6am starts and watching the sun rise in the winter.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Remember that post that went around Tumblr a while ago talking about an AU where your OTP is a florist and a tattoo artist? Yeah, I decided finally to write the thing and it quickly turned into a monster, so it's chaptered!
> 
> There's also an [8Tracks playlist](http://8tracks.com/bedroomhymn/i-hope-you-re-missing-me) for this, and [here's the post to reblog on Tumblr ](http://smosh.xyz/post/110184042891/i-hope-youre-missing-me-01)if you enjoyed this!

Anthony was used to getting up early - he’d complained about it as a teenager, but now he was an adult he actually enjoyed the 6am starts and watching the sun rise in the winter. Stretching as he rose from bed and giving his pet cat, Pip, a cursory pat on the side, Anthony sloped around his small studio apartment above his shop aimlessly for a few seconds before tugging on a shirt and opening the blinds.

He hadn’t been expecting to see a moving truck and a gaggle of people on the pavement below, moving things in and out of the long vacant lot next to his humble florists. He owned a small shop and made just about enough to get by with enough for some treats occasionally, but that was all Anthony needed to be happy, he’d discovered. He watched with interest as three people emerged from the back of the truck with what looked like a physician’s bed carried between them. There was music faintly playing from the vacant lot, and Anthony shrugged as he went to get a smoothie to wake himself up. He figured it was a dentist’s clinic opening, or maybe a not so salubrious massage parlour, (it wouldn’t be the first or last to open on the small back street,) so he went about his morning as he always did.

His smoothie was comprised of bananas, some ice, strawberries and raspberries. Anthony attentively worked his way around his house with a large jug, watering his house plants as he went and occasionally sipping from his glass. A glance at the clock revealed it was seven in the morning, leaving him just enough time to pick up his daily delivery of flowers from the post office before he opened up shop for the day.

Finishing his smoothie, Anthony opted for a quick shower before heading out anywhere, (his hair was greasy and his skin a little sticky too,) making sure to wear something that would leave a nice impression upon his customers - and the strangers moving in next door if they decided to pay him a visit. A simple t-shirt with a plaid thrown over it would suffice, Anthony decided eventually.

He didn’t own a car, much preferring to use his bike whenever possible. He gave Pip a bit of fuss before he left for the post office, topping off the cat’s biscuit supply before he closed the door behind himself and meandered down the stairs which lead to a simple wooden door at the back of the property. It faced onto a small courtyard, which Anthony used in the summer to display his flowers from time to time. There was a small cafe that backed onto his place, and he got more than a little passing trade on the days he set up there and basked in the sun all afternoon.

Unbolting his bicycle from the wall, Anthony looped the lock around his handlebars and set off to the post office. He was only expecting to get a few flowers, so he could risk taking his bike instead of the bus. Balancing a Monday’s deliveries on a bicycle was impossible, but on a Friday when he only had a dozen or so roses to pick up to replenish stocks, he could fit his deliveries into the small basket on the front of his bike. Sure, he got some flack for being a twenty something year old man with a basket on his bicycle, but he didn’t really care. It wasn’t like his friends didn’t already give him enough grief about being a florist, anyway.

Returning from the post office, Anthony went the long way around so he could get a glimpse into the store next to his. Not much had changed since he’d last looked in there, (a few days ago, to be exact,) aside from a partition wall being put up and a fresh coat of paint. Hand written ‘WET PAINT’ signs adorned the front of the shop and the bench that sat outside it, looking as though it were about to fall down at any inopportune moment. Everything was either black or a nice shade of purple - Anthony had to admit it was an improvement over the peeling bright orange that had been there previously.

He let himself in the front door, paying no mind to the strangers conversing in the shop next to him, and wheeled his bike through to the back of the store. Leaning it against the wall, Anthony gently pulled the newly delivered roses from his basket and opened the door to the cold storage, hidden away from the customer’s view. He opened the box that contained the flowers and with measured precision placed them along with the other yellow roses he had.

Anthony spent the next hour making up some new floral displays for the window of his shop. He worked carefully, but quickly, his hands a blur in between rolls of ribbon, organza and wire, working to create the small masterpieces he showed off to the passing public. After lovingly placing them in the window, replacing the few day old displays with new, green foliage. Anthony kept the older displays in the back of the shop, planning on placing them around his apartment like he always did until they finally started to look straggly and the heads on the flowers started to droop.

He turned the radio on low for some company before wandering to the front door and unbolting it, turning his open/closed sign around with a small smile. Anthony loved his work, genuinely adored it, no matter how much his friends gave him stick for it or how much his father expressed his wishes for his son to ‘get a real job’, so much so that he spent much of his days smiling and happily pottering around his shop until closing time. He usually got a few customers through the day, either people who called in and wanted deliveries, or people who just popped in to buy a bunch of flowers for their mothers or partners. Occasionally he got work doing weddings, and they were Anthony’s favourite. He really enjoyed working on them, liked seeing his flowers on display on such an important day for people, even if it did make him a little wistful for a relationship himself.

Twirling some organza around his fingers, Anthony was singing along to the radio when the bell above his door rang. It was early, but it wasn’t unheard of for him to get customers so early, so he straightened up and smoothed out a crease in his shirt. The person standing in the doorway was wearing tatty jeans and a raglan shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

It was hard to ignore the colourful patterns which wound up the person’s arms and onto their chest and neck, but the first thing Anthony had noticed had been the stranger’s eyes. Brighter than a coral reef, they seemed to shine bright blue under the halogen light in Anthony’s shop. The next thing he noticed was the tupperware container in the stranger’s arms, filled with something Anthony couldn’t quite make out from his counter.

“Hey! How can I help you?” Anthony asked, chipper as always to see a potential customer.

The stranger nervously scratched the back of their neck with one hand, taking a few steps towards Anthony’s counter. They were smiling, and Anthony noticed that they had the words ‘Hold Fast’ emblazoned across their knuckles.

“Hey, uh… I kinda just moved into the store next door. Sorry if we woke you up,” the stranger grinned.

Anthony smiled back and shook his head. Well, now he wasn’t so sure about either of his ideas about what could be happening next door to him.

“Don’t worry about it, you didn’t wake me,” Anthony started, “I’m Anthony.”

“‘M Ian, and I bought you some cake to apologise for any noise while we make the place pretty.” Ian gently placed the tupperware container on the counter and patted the top of it. “My business partner made these, but she’s busy hanging things up next door, so she asked me to bring ‘em over.”

Anthony didn’t have the heart to tell the stranger that he was vegan and thus didn’t eat cake made with eggs or milk. The man seemed so genuinely nice that Anthony would have felt bad just rejecting such a kind offer. Instead, he widened his smile and leaned against his counter.

“Thanks! Say thanks to her for me too, if you don’t mind.” Anthony let a beat of silence fall over them, but it was a little awkward. “Mind if I ask what you’re doing over there?”

“Oh, uh, this is probably obvious, and you’re gonna kick yourself for not guessing, but we’re opening a small tattoo place. Don’t worry, we’ll keep the noise down once the renovations are done.” With a wink and another jingle of the bell, Ian was gone, leaving Anthony to wonder what to do with a container full of cake he wouldn’t eat and if he’d see the handsome tattooed man again sometime soon.


	2. Chapter 2

It took a couple of days for Anthony to get the heart to throw out the cakes that Ian had brought over for him. It wasn’t in his nature to be unkind to people or to refuse a good gesture, but he couldn’t bring himself to compromise his morals, no matter how tasty the cakes looked. He ended up giving them to his friends when they came over to play Mario Kart, and reminded himself to emphasise how good the frosting was since that seemed to have been the winning factor, amongst his friends at least.

As a thank you, he put together a large bouquet for the shop. Anthony didn’t know if it was safe to have flowers hanging out in a tattoo place, but it was the thought that counted, surely. He mixed alstroemeria for aspiration, iris for inspiration, stargazer lillies for ambition and yellow roses for friendship, hand tying them all in a big bunch with an elegant hemp rope tie.

Anthony knew the language of flowers well - his grandmother had been a florist before him, and he’d spent a lot of his childhood with her, helping out in her shop and learning how to make floral displays as soon as he had the patience and fine motor skills to do so. His father never expressed an interest in it, but Anthony was adamant that he wanted to continue the family business - if not in his own little modern way instead of the old fashioned way his grandmother taught him.

While preparing to open the shop one day, he smiled as he thought about his grandmother. She’d have been proud of him, he knew that deep down, and sometimes that was all that motivated him to keep going when business was slow and the money to keep the lights on wasn’t coming in.

He looked at the bouquet which stood proud amongst the smaller arrangements on the counter in his humble shop and smiled again. Armed with the now empty tupperware container and the bouquet, Anthony made his way to the shop next door. He spotted someone milling around in the back and so, delicately, he knocked on the window and found himself blushing faintly when he got someone’s attention.

Anthony wasn’t a wallflower by any means, but he did sometimes get flustered when around new people. He blamed it on his nervous nature, and managed to suppress it a lot of the time, but sometimes it sneaked to the forefront of his mind before he got it under control.

“Hey!” He was snapped from his thoughts by a svelte woman greeting him from the doorway of the shop, which was now swinging open. “You must be Anthony, from next door, right? How’d you enjoy my cake?”

The woman, much like Ian, appeared to be covered head to toe in tattoos, only hers were black and grey, winding geometric patterns up and down both of her arms and up onto her neck. The sides of her head were shaved and Anthony noticed the words ‘Stay Gold’ on her knuckles when she reached out and took the empty tupperware from him.

“Oh, it was great,” Anthony smiled politely and extended his free hand for a handshake, something he hadn’t been able to do with Ian before he made a quick exit. “I didn’t get your name?”

“Oh, duh, sorry! I’m Mari.” She smiled genuinely and held the door open, backing into the shop. “You can come in if you like, Ian’s in the back, messing with his inks or something…” Mari trailed off into a mumble when Anthony stepped inside. The shop smelled clean, like fresh paint and plywood.

“Hey, Ian! Anthony’s here!” Mari called, placing the tupperware down on the bare wooden counter. “He bought you flowers!” Her voice sounded teasing, and Anthony had to try hard not to blush again. There was no denying that Ian was handsome, if not conventionally so, there was something about the patterns which danced on his skin and his bright blue eyes that had temporarily captivated Anthony when they’d met.

“Yeah?” Anthony heard a clatter from behind the partition before Ian appeared, his fingers inky and messy, covered in a multitude of colours. “Had an accident with a couple of bottles, dropped ‘em, now I’m covered in it,” he explained briefly to Mari, who rolled her eyes at him and patted his shoulder as she breezed past him.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Mari teased again before disappearing behind the partition with a small smirk plastered on her lips. Ian scowled at her back before turning his attention to Anthony. Inside his own shop, he seemed much more at ease and laid back, and Anthony was grateful for that as it put him at ease, as well.

“Hey, man. Her cakes are good, right?” Ian quipped, slowly letting his eyes drift over the bouquet which Anthony was clutching. “Are those for me?” He asked, and Anthony stuttered a little before speaking.

“Yeah. Well, yeah, I thought they’d look nice on your counter. If you need a vase, I have plenty.” Anthony let out a small, nervous laugh, and inwardly cursed himself for doing that as soon as the noise was out of his mouth. Ian didn’t seem to notice though, and if he did, he was good at hiding his reaction to Anthony giggling like a school girl.

“Aw, thank you! They’re really pretty, I love roses.” Ian held up his hands, both of which had large, red roses on the backs of them. “You can probably tell, huh?” He grinned and turned his head away from Anthony. “Hey, Mari! Do we own a vase?”

“Yeah!” Anthony heard from somewhere in the middle distance. He took the opportunity to excuse himself.

“I should get back and actually open the store.” Anthony nibbled at his bottom lip for a second. “So, uh… Same time next week?” He joked, but he saw Ian’s eyes flicker for a second, (or maybe that was wishful thinking.)

“You’re gonna bring me flowers every week? Oh, you spoil me,” Ian quipped. He was obviously a joker. “Nah, all kidding aside, they’re really nice, I’m gonna put them in some water and put them right… Here.”

“Glad you like ‘em,” Anthony said with a small, but sincere, smile. He swung the heavy door open and headed back to his shop, a single butterfly fluttering around his stomach every time he thought about Ian.


	3. Chapter 3

A week passed before Anthony saw Ian again. He’d noticed, on his daily trips to the post office, that the tattoo shop had since opened up and was a buzzing hive of activity until long after he finished working for the day. He’d even gained a couple of new passing clients from there, people who came in with their arms or legs wrapped in cling film to protect the delicate new designs etched into their skin forever.

It was about six when Anthony decided to close up for the day, and he was setting about putting away his scissors and wire when the bell rang to signify someone coming into the shop.

“Oh, sorry, I’m just closing!” He called. There was silence until he turned around and was faced with Ian leaning on the counter, his tattooed arms folded over the whitewashed wood.

“Where are my flowers?” Ian said with a wide grin, one which made Anthony involuntarily blush. Damn, he was handsome.

“Huh? Oh. Oh!” Anthony laughed when he realised that Ian was joking with him. “Yeah, I thought I’d make you wait this time.” Maybe Anthony was flirting a little, if he told the truth. It was hard not to when Ian was cockily smirking at him and eyeing him from underneath his long eyelashes.

Ian shot Anthony a quick wink. “Playing hard to get? I like your style.”

Was Ian flirting back with him? Anthony was a little baffled by that. He knew that he was a decent looking guy, but it was rare for someone to flirt with him, even jokingly. Usually the whole florist with a cat and house plants that he treated like children thing wasn’t a turn on.

“Anyway,” Ian said, straightening up. “We’re having an opening party tonight, I wondered if you’d like to come?” He grinned.

“Oh, um…” Anthony wasn’t much for partying, much preferred to stay in with Netflix and his cat, but he found himself nodding regardless. “Yeah, okay, I’ll come.”

“Awesome. Just show up at eight, tell Joven - he’ll be hanging around the door - that you know me.” Ian straightened up and pushed the sleeves of his sweater up his arms.

“Alright, I will.” Anthony promised, smiling softly at Ian. Since when was he a school girl with a crush? Or, at least, when did he start acting like one? He cringed inwardly at himself as Ian turned towards the door.

“Oh, and it’s not BYOB, so don’t worry, if you want to get tanked we’ve got plenty of drinks in the cooler.” Ian grinned over his shoulder at Anthony. “See you later?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later,” Anthony said with a small nod.

As soon as Ian had taken his leave, Anthony set about finishing closing up the shop. He turned the lights off and locked the door behind him, wandering down the small alley between his shop and Ian’s so he could get to his apartment through the back door.

Pip eagerly meowed at Anthony and wound around his legs as soon as Anthony opened the door, leading the man to his empty food bowl.

“I know I’m a little late, buddy, just wait a second.” Anthony flicked the lights in his apartment on and quickly fed Pip, who meowed gratefully in response to having a full food bowl, before feeding himself. He opted for something simple, just a little pasta with tomato sauce. While the sauce was warming on the stove and the pasta was softening in boiling water, Anthony went to get changed and to restyle his hair. He contemplated straightening his hair for the first time in months but decided that he didn’t want to look like he’d made _too much_ of an effort. He changed into some jeans that weren’t stained with chlorophyll and a button down grey shirt, pulling on a pair of shoes before he checked on his pasta.

He ate a little, but felt nauseous for some reason. He didn’t like the idea of having a useless schoolgirl crush on someone, least of all someone he’d only just met and didn’t know. Picking at his food and pushing it around his bowl with his fork, Anthony ate a few more bites before glancing at the clock. He still had an hour to kill before the party started, and he didn’t want to come across as too eager by being there at eight on the dot. Anthony dropped back onto his sofa after putting his bowl and fork in the dishwasher and fired up his WiiU; maybe some Mario Kart would calm the nerves nagging in the back of his head.

When eight rolled around, the music coming from below and to the right got considerably louder and he could faintly hear people laughing and talking through his paper thin walls and floor. That was enough to make him turn his console off and head over a little earlier than he’d planned to. If there were more than just him and Ian around, he could easily hide in the crowd, Anthony figured.

Petting Pip and wishing his pet goodbye, Anthony tucked his phone and keys into his back pocket before he left. It had gone chilly outside, and he was glad that he only had a very short way to go in his thin shirt.

When he turned the corner of the alleyway between the shops, he spotted a small group of people talking and smoking outside the shop. Anthony blushed a little at the lack of tattoos on his skin - he wasn’t sure he’d fit in too well if the group glancing at him were anything to go by. Ian was standing amongst them, and Anthony found himself making a beeline for the other man.

“Hey,” he offered when there was a lull in conversation he could slip into, and Ian grinned, holding his arms out for a hug.

Anthony hesitated before letting himself be hugged. Ian was obviously a very touchy person, if the way he occasionally touched the arms of those he was talking to was anything to go by.

“Hey! I half expected you not to come,” Ian said, a grin spreading across his face. Anthony felt suddenly like he’d been tricked into something, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. It was like being asked to prom by the best looking guy in class only to find that they were planning on dumping pigs blood on your head when you were crowned Prom Queen, or something.

“Nah, I’m here.” Anthony folded his hands behind his back and smiled. He felt awkward with everyone looking at him, evidently wondering who he was and why he’d been invited when his tan skin was unmarked and his face was void of metal.

“Guys, this is Anthony. He owns the florist’s next door.” Ian nodded to the closed shop. He seemed to never stop smiling, and the way his smile lit up his face was captivating.

“He’s a florist?” Someone asked, and Ian backhanded their chest as Anthony felt his face burn with indignation. He was about to say something about it when Ian gripped his arm.

“Come on, it’s cold out here,” Ian said simply, tugging on Anthony’s wrist until Anthony followed him into the shop. “That was Joshua, or Joven as he prefers. He’s a tactless bastard but he means no harm.” Ian lead Anthony around the back of the partition wall, where a small group of girls were crowded around one of the beds and a loud buzzing filled the air.

“I hope you’re not planning on tattooing me,” Anthony nervously joked, and Ian let out a bark of endearing laughter.

“Not tonight,” he said with a sly smirk. “Sometime I’ll convert you, but for now, just make yourself at home. The kitchen is through that door,” Ian pointed to the clean white door at the back of the shop, “and the bathroom is upstairs.” He then pointed to the coiling spiral staircase to his left. “There’s more people coming, but they’re not here just yet.”

Anthony nodded politely, pushing his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans. He felt awkward amongst a group of people who obviously all knew each other already, but thankfully Ian didn’t seem to be leaving his side just yet. Standing closer to him, Anthony realised he stood a little taller than the other man and slightly more muscular too.

“You okay?” Ian asked quietly. “You look terrified.” He nudged Anthony’s side with his elbow. “Don’t worry, none of my friends bite, they’re just wondering who you are is all. By the end of the night you’ll have made new friends, I guarantee it.”

Anthony let out a shallow laugh. “Yeah, I’m just convinced they think I’m an alien because I’m not tattooed and pierced like you guys,” he joked.

Ian, thankfully, laughed. “You do look a bit alien-y.” To Anthony’s surprise, Ian reached up and patted his cheek. “Do you want a drink? You look a bit lost without one.” He held up his half empty can of beer. “What’s your poison? Beer, wine, something more exotic?”

“Oh, I don’t really drink alcohol,” Anthony said, “but one beer might be okay.” He nodded a couple of times and let Ian lead the way to the kitchen.

“So you don’t drink, huh? You really must be an alien.” Ian smiled. Leaning down, he opened the fridge and offered Anthony a beer blindly. “I’m kidding, of course,” he quickly added, the faintest of blushes colouring his cheeks.

It was around then that Mari walked into the room. She grinned at Ian, then at Anthony, and said with a smirk, “Am I interrupting something? You know, people come to make out in the kitchens at parties.” She leaned over Ian and plucked a bottle of juice from the fridge, pirouetting out of the room as suddenly as she’d entered it.

Her words made both of their faces glow red, though Anthony was too busy hiding his blush to notice the similar one on Ian’s face, creeping down into the scruffy beard that grew on his jaw line.

\---

Anthony spent much of the night sitting alone, which he didn’t actually mind. He could people watch from his vantage point on the sidelines, and he saw some interesting things. Some people got tattooed, which was fascinating to Anthony, and made him wish that he had the guts to get a tattoo himself. He wondered idly what he’d get if he had to get one, and settled on something floral. Maybe that was a little girly, he thought, but most people also thought floristry was only for women, and he was all about subverting that trope.

“Hi again,” Ian said, dropping down onto the seat next to Anthony. He had a patch of clingfilm covering a tiny new tattoo on his arm, one that was almost hidden amongst the rest of the living canvas. “How’s your night been? I haven’t seen much of you.”

Anthony thought it was sweet how Ian checked in on him from time to time. Wait, sweet? God, he really had it bad, he thought as he rubbed his free hand over his face and took a sip from his bottle of water. “It’s been good, but I should probably get going.”

Ian pouted, and Anthony had to hide yet another blush when Ian’s hand rested on his forearm. “Already? But I - I mean... We barely got to talk to you.” He gestured to the rest of the people in the room, which had slowly but steadily filled up throughout the night. Several people were being tattooed, and even more people were sitting or standing around, drinking and making conversation.

Anthony felt a little bad. He hadn’t exactly been the most social of people, but he was a loner by definition - honestly he’d rather have been alone at home instead of at a party, but his politeness overrode his discomfort in big party situations.

“I have to get up at six,” Anthony pointed out, giving his watch a glance.

“Six?! You must enjoy torture, too,” Ian joked. When Anthony looked over at him, he was smiling softly, and maybe there was a trace of fondness in there too. “Stay a little longer? I want to get to know you a bit better.”

Anthony hovered over his choices for a long moment before conceding and letting Ian defeat him. Getting to know Ian better did sound nice, after all.

They spent an hour or more talking. Once Anthony had started and got comfortable he could rarely stop chatting. He discovered that Ian had got into tattooing when he’d got his first one at sixteen, which he’d since had covered up, but he showed Anthony an old picture of the tacky tribal dragon and they both had a good laugh about it. Ian had been born and raised in Sacramento, but moved to Los Angeles that week to start his own business after working under another artist for six years. Anthony told Ian about his grandmother and how he got into floristry. He told Ian about his cat, and his houseplants, and instead of quickly growing bored with Anthony’s retelling of his mundane life, Ian sat there, engrossed and listening attentively.

Every so often, Ian would look up at Anthony and smile while he spoke. He’d push his hair from his eyes or scratch his beard, and go back to people watching while he listened. Anthony noticed the small movements, mostly because he was paying such intense attention to the other man. He’d spotted the black dots on Ian’s jeans and shirt, no doubt left over ink stains that would never wash out, and he’d taken in the way that the piercings in Ian’s ears caught the light just so. Anthony noticed how Ian delicately ruffled his hair before smoothing it down, and he found himself longing to be the one who smoothed down the rich, caramelly strands.

It was just a crush, he told himself while Ian was talking about how a tattoo machine worked, gesturing wildly with his hands to try and demonstrate. Just a silly, little crush. He knew Ian a little better, but he still didn’t know him well enough to be feeling the longing and fondness he did for the other man. No matter how much Anthony wanted to kiss Ian, it was just a crush. Just something that would pass in a week and leave Anthony feeling stupid for ever considering wanting to kiss him. But, oh god, did Anthony long to kiss him.  
“... And that moves the needles up and down really really fast.” Ian grinned and patted Anthony’s arm, “Thanks for listening to me ramble on about how cool tattoo machines are.” He laughed and patted Anthony’s arm again. A few seconds of silence fell over them, and there was laughter from somewhere else in the room before Anthony zoned in on Ian speaking again. “So… I was wondering if I could get your phone number?” Ian asked.

When Anthony looked over at him, Ian was gazing at the art on the wall across the room from them, avoiding Anthony’s gaze altogether. He had the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips though, and an even fainter hint of a blush colouring his cheeks.

Anthony licked his dry lips and fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket. “Uh, yeah. Of course, sure,” he rambled. Ian sat back and smiled properly, gleefully taking Anthony’s phone from his hands. Ian dug around in his pocket and handed his phone to Anthony, who carefully keyed in his number and name, double and triple checking it for any mistakes.

“Awesome.” Ian looked at the watch around his wrist and hissed through his teeth. “I kept you another hour and a half after you said you were leaving, sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay,” Anthony hurried to say, perhaps a little too eagerly. “I don’t mind, not at all.”

“Alright, good. I’ll let you go now, if you want to.”

“Thanks.” Anthony stood up and stretched, swapping his phone with Ian’s so he had the right one. “I would stay, but y’know…”

“Early start in the morning, I know,” Ian finished for him. His rosy cheeks darkened a little. “I’ll see you around though, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

With that, Anthony smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt and walked to the door, stepping out into the midnight cool. Against his warm face, the cold air was almost a relief - he was sure he’d spent most of the night blushing at Ian.

Once he was upstairs and secure in his apartment, his shirt and jeans long since shed and his Netflix queue playing on the television, Anthony checked where Ian had put his number into his phone. He was expecting an obviously fake number, and was surprised when he finally found Ian’s name - with a small, red heart next to it.


	4. Chapter 4

Anthony fell asleep that night feeling happy and content. He didn’t know why, it was just a damn emoji, but he wondered if it meant that Ian had the same silly crush feelings he did. Just the idea of that made his heart thrum with contentedness. He slept soundly through his alarm and woke with a start at nine in the morning, when his phone beeped loudly and shocked him out of a lighter phase of sleep.

Thankfully, Anthony had no reason to be up so early since he didn’t open on weekends - he just preferred to keep to a routine whenever possible. He’d forgotten all about Ian’s number and subsequent heart emoji, that was until he turned over and picked his phone up, seeing a text from the other man.

‘Wanna get coffee later? x’

The kiss mark, though barely an indicator of friendly affection, much less anything else, made Anthony’s heart cartwheel through his ribcage. His heart pounded hard for a second, then settled again, as he slid across the screen to unlock his phone and reply. He lingered for a long time on how to reply, before writing, simply, ‘Sure. Where and when?’. Anthony hesitated, but eventually added his own kiss mark to the end of the text before sending it.

The speed at which Ian replied genuinely shocked Anthony. It was like the other man had been lingering with his phone in his hand, waiting for Anthony to text back, but that was just wishful thinking, surely?

‘How about one this afternoon? There’s a nice place downtown, I can take you to save you using that old bike of yours x’

Anthony’s heart did another, smaller, cartwheel at the kiss mark again. He smiled and sat up in bed, lazily extending a hand to pet his cat when Pip jumped onto the bed.

‘Okay, sounds good. See you then. x’ Anthony texted back, before locking his phone and setting about doing his daily ritual of caring for his cat, plants, then himself.

\---

He spent a long time procrastinating on getting ready, pulling things from his chest of drawers here, there and everywhere before settling on wearing a t-shirt and jeans, like he always did. Anthony threw a cardigan over it all in an attempt to look a little smarter, and spent an inordinate amount of time preening in the mirror, even going so far as to pluck between his eyebrows. Once he was satisfied with how he looked, Anthony sighed contently. It wasn’t a date, he knew that. It was just a friendly get together, right? Nothing more, or less. And yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped that Ian had intended this to be a date.

When someone rapped on the door to his apartment at half past noon, Anthony nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been reading, waiting for one o’clock to roll around with a nervous stomach and butterflies just seeking to aggravate it. Putting his book down, Anthony made his way to the door after shutting Pip in the bathroom, (sometimes he liked to try and make a run for the outdoors,) opening it with a questioning look on his face. He hadn’t been expecting to see Ian standing there.

In his hands, Ian had a small bouquet of red roses, which he shyly handed over to Anthony.

“Hi,” the tattooed man said, gesturing with his hands while he thought of what to say. “I hope you like roses as much as I do,” Ian said with a grin.

“I…” Anthony’s heart had leapt up into his throat and was almost making a bid for freedom altogether. He definitely hadn’t been expecting flowers, and he couldn’t stop the smile from tugging at his lips if he’d tried to. Even if they were bought from a supermarket, and still had the price tag on them, they were beautiful. “Thank you,” he finally said, stepping backwards so Ian could come into the stairwell. “They’re gorgeous.”

“Well, I thought you might like ‘em, being a florist and all.” Ian’s demeanour was different to when he was around his friends - he seemed to be laid back, and perhaps even a little shy.

“I do.” Anthony had to hold back on kissing Ian’s cheek as a thank you, and instead just headed up the stairs and motioned for Ian to close the door and follow him. He headed to the kitchenette and pulled a vase out of a cupboard. “I’ll just put these in some water and then we can get going.”

“This is a nice place, ‘s cosy.” Ian ran his hand over the back of Anthony’s leather couch, eyeing the marquee lights above the head of Anthony’s bed across the room. He pointed briefly to Pip’s food bowl. “You’ve got a cat, right? I remember you telling me last night.”

Anthony busied himself with clipping the ends off the stems of the roses, arranging them neatly in the vase. Occasionally he’d stop and smell one of the roses before putting it in the vase, unable to wipe the smile off his face. Ian’s voice brought him back down to earth. “Oh! Yeah, I shut him in the bathroom so he didn’t get out when you knocked. I’ll let him out before we get going, just gotta make sure he doesn’t get out.”

After filling the vase with water, Anthony walked over to the coffee table in front of the TV and gave them pride of place in the middle, clearing some video game cases and his 3DS out of the way. Ian was standing quietly, looking around Anthony’s apartment.

“Are you ready to go?” Anthony asked Ian softly, and Ian nodded a few times.

“Yup, ready as ever.” He threw his car keys up in the air and missed catching them by a long way, a flush of blood reaching his face while he bent down to pick them up.

Anthony opened the bathroom door to let Pip have the run of the apartment while he was out. He pushed his phone, keys and wallet into his pockets and ushered Ian towards the door.

\---

The car ride to the coffee place was quiet, but not in an uncomfortable way. Anthony sat with his hands folded in his lap and watched the world pass by the window of the blue Subaru, listening carefully to the music playing over the stereo. They seemed to share the same taste in music as well, and Anthony made a mental note to take Ian to a gig if he ever had the chance to.

“Alright,” Ian said as they pulled into the busy parking lot next to a small row of stores, “we’re here.” He smiled over at Anthony while undoing his seatbelt.

Anthony returned the smile with fondness, unfastening his own seatbelt and clambering out of the car. The air outside was pleasantly cool but not too cold, the kind of mild mid-winter weather that California was famed for.

When Ian walked around to his side of the car and gently, but confidently, took his hand, Anthony wasn’t sure what to do. His heart flip flopped in his chest and he swallowed hard.

“What?” Ian asked, his voice tinged with feigned innocence. He grinned and started walking, pulling Anthony along by his hand.

Anthony wasn’t the most experienced, romantically speaking or otherwise, and things as simple as holding hands made him a nervous wreck. Where did he put his fingers? What if he held too tightly, or not tightly enough? That wasn’t even mentioning that Anthony could count on one hand the amount of crushes he’d had in his entire lifetime, let alone relationships. Even casual dates were a rarity, and it wasn’t because Anthony was a terrible person or because he was a bad date, but rather because he didn’t seek it out.

More often than not, Anthony could take or leave romance or sex. He wasn’t generally interested in either, except for with a couple of people that he’d developed romantic relationships with. Sometimes he felt as though he was broken because of it - all of his friends actively pursued relationships and sex, meanwhile Anthony was generally content to sit at home on his own. Occasionally he longed for some company, for a relationship, but it was usually a longing for specific people and not a general feeling. His parents and friends constantly bugged him to find someone nice and settle down, but in reality Anthony didn’t want to even casually date most people he met. A full blown romantic and sexual relationship was out of the question where most people were concerned.

That wasn’t to say that Anthony was repulsed by romance or sex, because he wasn’t. He didn’t mind either, in fact he’d quite liked the idea of being intimate with a select few people through his lifetime. He’d banded around the terms grey-aromantic and grey-asexual before, in his own head, and he thought to himself that that was probably what he was. Generally asexual and aromantic, with occasional exceptions to the rule. That felt right to him, but he hadn’t the courage nor the inclination to come out to his parents or to his friends. Anthony doubted that they’d properly understand, anyway, and would probably instead ask if he’d been abused or if there was something wrong with him, neither of which was true.

Ian’s fingers gave his hand a squeeze and stopped Anthony’s train of thought. He blushed and ducked his head a little.

“Where’s this coffee place, then?” Anthony asked after a stuttered start. Ian’s hand was smaller than his, warm and a perfect fit against his.

“Just up here,” Ian pointed with his free hand and stalled his walking. “You… You don’t mind me holding your hand, do you?” He asked quietly. “Because if I read this totally wrong and you’re not into dudes or whatever, just tell me and we can just have coffee as friends, no hard feelings.”

The fact that Ian would even ask made Anthony smile, and he shook his head no. “No, it’s okay. You just… Took me by surprise.” Anthony held off on admitting his lack of experience, for now at least.

“Ah, alright.” The smile reappeared on Ian’s lips and he carried on walking, pulling Anthony along behind him. “The coffee cake here is amazing.”

“Can I admit something?” Anthony spoke. “I’m vegan, and I didn’t actually eat those cakes that Mary made…” He blushed and laughed nervously.

Ian barked with laughter, covering his mouth. “Really? Well, shit, colour me surprised!” He chuckled. “Don’t look so nervous, she won’t mind. Oh, and it’s Mari, by the way, not Mary, she hates that.”

Ian tightened his fingers around Anthony’s hand and turned sharply so they could enter the coffee shop. It was a small place, and they had to drop each others’ hands so they could get through the narrow door. The decor was mostly wooden and looked modern, but it also had a charm in the art hung on the walls and the music playing that a lot of commercial places didn’t have. There were leather armchairs and sofas dotted around the space, with a large counter in the back.

“What do you want?” Ian asked. “I know they do stuff with soy or almond milk if you want a latte or something.” When Anthony went to pull his wallet out on their way to the counter, Ian put his arm out and touched Anthony’s hand gently. “No, my treat. Let me pay, you can get it next time.”

Anthony conceded defeat and put his wallet away. “I’ll just have a soy latte, in that case.” He smiled. The day, or rather their date, was going better than he could ever have planned for it to. His heart was still fluttering at the thought of his silly crush being reciprocated, and while most adults wouldn’t get worked up about holding hands, Anthony couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted to hold someone’s hand, let alone kiss them or curl around them in bed, or…

“Two lattes, one soy, one regular,” Ian ordered for them. He turned back to Anthony. “Why don’t you find us somewhere to sit? Pick somewhere cosy, I wanna be able to talk to you without shouting over a table.” Ian nudged Anthony’s side with his elbow and winked, leaving Anthony to wander away with a blush fading in on his face.

He found a sofa in a corner that wasn’t taken and settled on sitting there. There was enough space for them both, but when Ian came to sit down, two coffees in his hands, he sat close enough to Anthony for their knees to touch.

“This one’s yours,” Ian handed a cup to Anthony, smiling faintly. “So… Tell me more about yourself.”

They talked through three cups of coffee each, spending two hours in the small coffee shop. Anthony got to talk about his passion for veganism, which Ian seemed a bit bewildered by, and also got to talk a little about his history with school, making jokes about how he was never really good at anything except science. Ian talked Anthony through the meanings of some of his tattoos, including the ‘Hold Fast’ on his knuckles and the ragged pirate ship which covered much of his left forearm, and how he was never good at anything in school either, leaving without his diploma.

By the time three o’clock rolled around, they were both pleasantly buzzed from the caffeine in their systems. Ian reached for Anthony’s hand again, and this time Anthony didn’t have a small heart attack from the contact. Ian’s thumb swiped over the side of Anthony’s hand slowly, and Anthony took in a deep breath filled with contentment.

They sat for a while like that, just looking at each other, before Ian glanced at his watch.

“Shit, I should get back to the shop before they think I’ve gone M.I.A.” Ian chuckled, letting go of Anthony’s hand so he could stretch and get some blood flowing again.

“Yeah, I have friends coming over for dinner and video games, so… I should get home too, really,” Anthony said in reply.

When they got up, Anthony shook his legs to get some blood flow back to them, easily following Ian to the door, where he threw a couple of dollars into the tip bucket before closing the door behind him.

The car ride back was as uneventful as the one there, and much the same. Anthony felt warm inside, something unknown tugging at his heartstrings whenever he chanced a glance at Ian. The other man really was good looking, all long hair and beard but still irrevocably handsome in his own way.

“So,” Ian started when he parked up outside Anthony’s shop. Reaching across the console, he took hold of Anthony’s hand with a smile. This time, he tangled their fingers together. “Would you mind if I kissed you?” He asked, his voice quiet and shy for a change.

Anthony pondered on it for a little while. On one hand, he _really_ wanted to kiss Ian, but on the other if felt like far too fast of a move for him. Throwing caution to the wind and hoping Ian didn’t go in for the proverbial kill at such an early stage, Anthony licked his lips to moisten them before nodding. “I don’t mind if you kiss me,” he murmured back.

Ian leaned close over the center console, his fingers still tangled with Anthony’s. In a move that was a surprise to Anthony, Ian kissed the corner of his lips gently before pulling back, searching Anthony’s face for a reaction. Anthony was smiling softly, a lurid blush rising on his face.

“Mind if I kiss you again?” Ian asked jokingly, before he leaned in and gave Anthony a quick, but affectionate, peck on the lips. Finally, he pulled back and untangled his hand with Anthony’s. “I really enjoyed today.”

“Me too.” Anthony sighed, but it was a sigh of contentment and not irritation. “We should do this every weekend.”

“How about I cook you dinner next weekend? Gives me an excuse to try cooking something vegan?” Ian suggested, his own face glowing warm.

“That… That sounds perfect.” Anthony nodded and Ian offered him a bright smile.

“I’ll text you,” Ian promised as he got out of the car. Anthony followed suit and headed towards the alleyway which lead to the door to his home.

“Alright. See you soon,” Anthony said with a grin, watching as Ian disappeared into the tattoo parlour before making his way to his apartment.

\---

That night, Anthony fell asleep smiling after telling his friends all about the surprise date. They were all eager to hear about it, surprised that Anthony of all people had been on a date that had actually been successful. Anthony could ignore their little jibes and digs, because his heart was still doing acrobatics and every time he closed his eyes, he swore he could feel Ian’s lips against his and the pleasant scritch of the other man’s beard against his chin.

He made a mental reminder to take Ian more flowers that weekend, and he was half asleep when his phone beeped and woke him up again at half past midnight.

‘Can’t stop thinking about you x’ he read, eyes scanning up to Ian’s name emblazoned on the screen. Anthony let out a small huff of laughter and texted back.

‘Get some sleep, you lunatic x’ Anthony replied, and Ian’s reply came in quicker than he’d expected.

‘Will do. Good night, angel x’ 

Laughing again, Anthony replied with a simple ‘Angel? x’.

And got a ‘Yeah, you look like one! Good night x’ in reply.

Anthony found himself blushing and clutching his phone to his chest for a second before he replied. ‘Haha, okay. Sleep well x’ he texted, before placing his phone on his nightstand and curling up in bed himself. Anthony fell asleep thinking about Ian, wondering what it would be like to have the other man curled up next to him as he slept.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next update might take a few days, just a heads up! I'm still definitely updating this though, I've just got a tiny bit of writer's block c:

Over the next week, the two fervently exchanged texts despite spending their days literally next door to each other. Most of the time, they texted after work was long over, and even managed to play a few online games of Mario Kart together, (most of which Anthony won, and he wasn’t keen on letting Ian forget that.) They stayed up later than perhaps they should have, texting late into the night, just talking aimlessly about work and how their days were.

Anthony wasn’t sure that he’d ever felt this way before. Sure, he’d had romantic crushes before, but they hadn’t really been reciprocated save for one, and he’d never made Anthony feel like he was the only person on Earth who mattered when his phone beeped with another text. It was far too early days to call it love, (and Anthony wasn’t convinced on the existence of that for him personally anyhow,) but it was something interesting and new to Anthony nonetheless.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Anthony was excited to see Ian again. He made a real effort for their dinner together, wearing one of his nicer shirts and even going so far as to iron it before putting it on. He dabbed cologne behind his ears and along his jaw, and almost put too much product in his hair in an overexcited slip of the hand.

While he didn’t usually work on Saturdays, sometimes Anthony made exceptions, and the bouquet of red roses he’d prepared for Ian was one of those. It was simple, but pretty, tied together with matching red ribbon and wrapped in black crepe paper. He took the luxury of calling a taxi to take him to Ian’s, not really wanting to chance the flowers getting crushed or worse on public transport.

He’d discovered that Ian lived in a nicer area of the city, in a single bedroomed apartment with his dog, Daisy. Anthony felt butterflies in his gut when his taxi arrived, and he made double sure that he had his keys and phone before walking out of his apartment and onto the sidewalk.

The taxi driver thankfully didn’t make small talk, which gave Anthony enough time to steady his nerves and take a few deep breaths. Somehow, going to someone’s house - their own personal space in the world - felt very different to going to a coffee shop downtown. It felt more intimate, and while the thought of that would usually make Anthony bolt, Ian seemed to be one of those rare people that Anthony actually genuinely wanted to be intimate with, to get to know, to hold hands with.

Pulling up outside the other man’s apartment building, Anthony tossed the driver a twenty and told him to keep the change. He let himself out of the car, carefully holding the flowers in his arms. He walked up to the front door and pressed the buzzer for Ian’s apartment, awkwardly shuffling from foot to foot as he waited anxiously for a response.

“Hey!” Ian’s voice beamed over the intercom, bright and happy as always.

“It’s uh… Me. Anthony.”

“Of course it is,” Ian chuckled, “Come upstairs, third floor, second door on your right, I’ll buzz you in.”

With a buzz, followed by a faint click, the door unlocked. Anthony took a deep breath to steady himself as he paced across the foyer and waited for an elevator to come down. It felt like it took forever to come, when in reality it was only a few seconds. He pressed the button for the third floor and, with a satisfying ‘ding’, the doors closed and he was on his way.

When he got to Ian’s door, he found it swinging open with Ian standing in the doorway, grinning as he often was. He’d got a shirt on with the sleeves rolled up and jeans with the knees scuffed out of them, his clothes covered by a black apron.

“Hey! It’s so good to see you again!” Ian exclaimed, suspiciously eyeing the flowers in Anthony’s grasp.

“Hey,” Anthony started, then looked at the flowers himself. “Oh, right. These are for you.” He smiled and held them out by the stems. Ian took them from him and inhaled their sweet, heady scent with a broad smile.

“They’re almost as beautiful as you,” Ian quipped, and Anthony felt a familiar burn in his cheeks as Ian stepped aside to let him in.

Anthony was greeted by the smell of food cooking, and it wasn’t until then that he realised how hungry he actually was, having not eaten all day on account of his nerves at being invited to Ian’s place. His stomach growled as he followed Ian through the other’s apartment and into the kitchen. It was instantly clear that Ian was an accomplished cook - he had recipe books stacked in the corner on some shelving, trinkets and figurines on display among them, and that wasn’t to mention how good the food cooking in the oven smelled.

Anthony awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets and hovered in the doorway to the kitchen. Being in someone else’s space, let alone someone he’d only been on one date with, always made him feel a little out of place.

“You can come in, I don’t bite.” Ian plucked a chipped, cracked vase from the top of his refrigerator and placed it on the counter. He then gestured to the modestly sized table in the corner of the room, decked out with a couple of candles and a neat table setting. Anthony blushed at the effort Ian had gone to.

He awkwardly shuffled over and sat down in one of the chairs, the one facing Ian’s place at the counter to be exact. Anthony watched attentively as Ian’s tattooed hands carefully placed the flowers into the vase and filled it with water.

“So, how was your week?” Ian asked after placing the vase in the center of the table. He leaned his hands on the wooden surface and peered curiously at Anthony.

“It was good… Same as always, really.” The corners of his mouth twitched up. “Made all the better by getting to talk to you every night,” Anthony admitted. He wasn’t good at flirting - he’d never had enough practice so he was a bit rusty on the rare occasions he wanted to flirt with someone.

“Oh, flattery.” Ian chuckled and patted Anthony’s arm gently. His fingers felt slightly calloused and rough, but his touch was warm and comforting, putting Anthony a little more at ease. “Dinner’s almost done, just another couple of minutes. I found a killer recipe for some roasted eggplant with lentils and spices, I hope you like it.”

“Eggplant is always good,” Anthony said with a nod, letting a surprisingly comfortable silence fall over the room when Ian went back to finishing up dishing out dinner.

When his plate was put in front of him, Anthony literally salivated. The food smelled and looked rich, all deep reds, purples, greens and oranges with a generous helping of salad on the side. All in all, it could easily have become a favourite, Anthony thought, and he hadn’t even taken a bite.

“What do you want to drink? I’ve got a bit of everything, but I did buy some wine, somewhere…” Ian fiddled with the knot at the small of his back, releasing it so he could take his apron off and hang it on the hook on the back of the door.

“Wine would be nice, actually.” Anthony thought it might help to calm his nerves, though he’d drank more in the past couple of weeks than he had in a damn long time. He kept his eyes locked on Ian while the other man uncorked the wine and poured it, mostly watching Ian’s face, the way his hair fell into his eyes from time to time, the bright flash of his eyes in the dimly lit room.

Ian placed their glasses on the table and got comfortable in the seat opposite Anthony. He huffed out a little sigh and lifted his head up, raising his glass casually.

“Here’s to new friends, date nights and good food,” Ian said with a wry smile, clinking his glass against Anthony’s when he finally got his fingers to work properly and hold his glass in some semblance of a normal way.

They ate in comfortable silence, punctuated by the occasional remark or lapse into casual conversation. It was nice, Anthony thought. Unlike so many dates before this one, he didn’t feel pressured into making conversation, (or worse, pressured into being the one to initiate the goodnight kiss he didn’t want to give in the first place,) the food was good, and he couldn’t deny that Ian looked even more stunning than usual in that light grey denim button down.

Once they’d both finished eating, Ian spoke up again. “I made dessert, too, if you still have room for it.” He smiled warmly, feeling content with a belly full of good food. “Maybe we could have it later when we’re not swimming in food already?”

“Later?” Anthony asked. A little panic set in at the back of his mind. Had Ian got the wrong idea and thought that, maybe, Anthony wanted sex right off the bat? Was that what he meant? Anthony had presumed he was just coming for food, but maybe he’d been horribly wrong. Maybe he was just worrying over nothing. It was hard to tell, if Anthony was honest, but he was admittedly apprehensive about staying late in an unfamiliar part of the city, no matter how enamoured with Ian he was.

“Yeah, I thought we could play some Mario Kart or watch a movie together?” Ian worried his bottom lip with his teeth. “Feel free to say no, of course.”

Anthony breathed a literal sigh of relief at that. A movie? He could do that. He wasn’t sure he’d even mind if Ian’s arm snaked around his shoulders. “A movie sounds like fun. As long as you’re not gonna ask me to watch Love Actually, or something.”

Ian laughed, and Anthony could swear he saw a flash of something like relief pass over Ian’s face. “Hell no. And no horror, either. We can find something on Netflix.” He slowly stood up, collecting the empty plates and glasses from the table and, balancing them like a professional, walked over to put them into the dishwasher.

“Okay, sounds good.” Anthony stood up, feeling a bit less awkward after the nice, slow and easy pace of the night so far. He was relieved that Ian didn’t seem to want to bed him so soon - Anthony would have bolted for the door if that had been the case. He’d had a few dates that had gone in that direction very quickly, and every time it had made Anthony feel sick to his stomach at the very thought. His face burned as he thought about kissing Ian properly, and he wouldn’t have minded that, perhaps, but anything past that was a definite no-go for him at that point. He was almost overjoyed that Ian just wanted to watch movies with him.

After Ian set up his Chromecast and got something playing that they both agreed on, he turned the lights off and sat himself next to Anthony on the sofa. Anthony discovered that Ian liked zombies despite not generally being a horror fan, and that most of all he loved superhero movies. Anthony thrived on finding out small things about Ian, loved every tiny tidbit of information he was given by the other man and he absorbed it like a sponge.

\---

“D’you mind if I put my arm around you?” Ian asked quietly about half way through the movie. They were already sitting closely together, their legs pressed against the other’s from hip to knee. Anthony thought for a moment before leaning into Ian’s side just slightly.

“No,” Anthony said simply. It sounded nice, plus the dimmed lights and food in his belly were making him sleepy. His heart thudded hard when Ian did put his arm around him. The tattooed man was warm and somehow softer than Anthony had imagined, and Ian’s fingers stroking at his shoulder made sparks fly under his skin.

They sat like that for a while, until Anthony fell asleep. When he awoke, the lights were still dim and Ian was snoozing soundly next to him, his arm still around Anthony’s shoulders. Anthony smiled and took a moment to take in Ian’s features, from his sleep messy hair to the tattoos which wound around the sides of his neck. Anthony spent a long time looking at Ian’s tattoos before waking him up, holding back on touching Ian’s patterned skin though the temptation was overwhelming.

“Ian? Hey, wake up.” Anthony nudged Ian until he opened his eyes and yawned. A glance at the clock on the wall revealed that it was half past midnight, and that they’d been asleep for a few hours. The thought of falling into bed with Ian and just sleeping, innocently, next to each other made Anthony’s heart swell a little.

“Mm, wh’?” Ian yawned again, stretching and finally releasing his grip on Anthony’s shoulder. “Wha’ time is it?” He murmured as Anthony sat upright and stopped leaning on him.

“Half past midnight, I think we were asleep for a while.” Anthony watched Ian rub his face with his now free hand.

“Mmm. Wanna stay the night?” Anthony’s heart sank. He should have seen it coming, knew it was too good to be true that he’d found someone who wasn’t interested in sex right off the bat. He contemplated just getting up and calling a cab, but instead he sighed.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh. Oh, no, I didn’t mean…. That.” Ian lazily gestured with his hand, and Anthony thought he saw a small blush rise on Ian’s face. “I meant… Well, the sofa pulls out into a bed, I meant you could sleep on here if you wanted to, save you getting a taxi so late at night, on your own.”

“Oh.” Anthony felt a flush of embarrassment wash over him. Why did he always jump to conclusions? “Yeah, I guess… I mean, I don’t mind getting a cab, though.”

“Nah, stay the night. I’ve got some fruit and soy milk left over from making dinner, if a smoothie sounds like a good idea for breakfast?” Ian was smiling softly, his features softened by tiredness.

“Yeah, okay.”

It took a few minutes of tired fumbling to get the sofa folded out into a bed, and even longer for Ian to try and find a blanket and some pillows, finally settling on giving Anthony some off his bed because he ‘had more than enough’.

Ian offered Anthony some sweatpants and a t-shirt, which he politely declined to take. He could sleep in his clothes for one night, it wouldn’t hurt and he’d done it before, more than once. When Anthony curled up underneath the unfamiliar covers and placed his head on the pillow, he felt like Ian was enveloping him. The sheets smelled like clean laundry with a hint of Ian’s cologne, a faint smell of fern and mint permeating Anthony’s senses.

He slept comfortably through the night, until he was woken at around nine by Ian, who was affectionately stroking his hair. Anthony’s heart flipped over between his lungs as he opened his eyes and realised that Ian was mere inches from his face, crouching down next to the sofa in a pair of quirky pajama pants and a tatty t-shirt.

“Morning,” Ian spoke quietly, giving Anthony’s hair one last longing stroke before standing up. He grinned and stretched.

Anthony was taken aback by Ian stroking his hair, didn’t really know how to react to it, so he just blushed and sat upright. “Morning,” he said with a barely audible groan punctuating the end of his sentence. It was a nice way to be woken up, he couldn’t deny that.

“Breakfast?” Ian asked, though he was already half way to the kitchen.

“Mm, sounds good.” Anthony pulled his shirt down where it had ridden up and climbed out from underneath the covers. He wanted more than anything to brush his teeth, but that would have to wait until he got home. Second to that want, was the want to lay around for another couple of hours - it was a Sunday after all.

“I don’t have much vegan stuff in, but I do have enough things to make a smoothie, or there’s some muesli and soy milk you could have?” Ian spoke as Anthony approached, then entered, the kitchen.

It felt exceedingly normal to wake up in Ian’s apartment and get breakfast with him, Anthony realised. There was no awkwardness or stilted moments at all. Idly, he wondered how Ian slept, if he moved a lot or slept stock still, if he flung the covers off or burrowed into them.

“Just a smoothie is good with me,” Anthony stifled a yawn behind his palm and, making a beeline for the fruit bowl, managed to hip bump Ian into the counter.

“Jeez, you hungry?” Ian joked, giving Anthony’s side a quick poke. Anthony tried to hide his laughter at Ian finding one of his ticklish points, but it was futile when Ian kept jabbing at the same spot. “Oh, you’re ticklish!” Ian grinned gleefully and turned around so he could tickle Anthony properly, fingers digging in just under his ribs.

Anthony laughed until it physically hurt, and Ian only dropped his hands when they started to cramp up. Both of them giggled lightly for a couple of seconds, before Ian was stepping closer to Anthony. He pressed their foreheads together and Anthony was surprised that his first reaction was to lean in and not jerk his head away.

It was silent in the kitchen when Ian tipped his head and kissed Anthony lightly, just a barely there brush of his lips. Anthony took the initiative for once and, in a moment of boldness uncharacteristic for him, closed the gap again and kissed with more force. He was glad Ian returned the pressure and made a small, quiet noise in the back of his throat. They kissed for a few minutes, just moving their lips together, and Ian’s hands made their way to Anthony’s hips, thumbing at his hipbones through his shirt.

By the time they pulled away, Anthony was literally breathless. He felt like Ian had knocked all the air from his lungs entirely. It had been so long since he’d kissed someone - since he’d actually, genuinely wanted to kiss someone - that he’d forgotten what it felt like to have your breath taken away by a kiss.

Ian smiled and pecked Anthony’s lips again before pulling away and grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl, handing it to Anthony. “The blender’s on the counter already,” he said softly, smiling fondly up at Anthony.

Still a little dazed, it took Anthony a moment to take the banana from the other man and wander over to the blender. He was smiling, but silent, as he slyly touched his fingers to his lips and licked over them to get the faintest taste of toothpaste. Anthony made himself a banana smoothie, which would do until he could get home and make himself some lunch.

They ate and drank while chatting, though Anthony was captivated by Ian’s tattoos again. With a tatty shirt on, Ian’s collarbones were bared as well as most of his arms, and Anthony could scarcely take his eyes off the way Ian’s muscles moved underneath his tattooed skin.

“I should get home soon, Pip will need feeding.” Anthony was reluctant to leave though. He felt almost as at home after spending the night as he did in his own apartment.

“Yeah, okay. I should get down to the shop soon as well, my shift starts in a couple of hours and I have some bookkeeping to do before that.” Ian sighed and stood up. “I just need to take a quick shower, uh… You could always play some video games while you wait for me, if you’d like? I won’t be long.”

Anthony took Ian up on that offer and sat in the living room completing a level on some Mario game that Ian hadn’t been able to beat. When Ian reappeared from his bedroom, with his beard newly trimmed and damp hair atop his head, Anthony saved the game and turned the console off.

“Ready to go?” Ian asked, wandering to the door to pick up his car keys, phone and wallet. He pulled on a jacket before opening the door and letting Anthony out first.

\---

By the time Anthony got home, he was starving. He voraciously scarfed down a bowl of porridge with fruit and jam while thinking about the way Ian had kissed him. He seemed so patient and caring, and Anthony could almost feel the other man’s thumbs pressing against his hips still, if he imagined hard enough. He felt like he’d never get rid of that feeling, but he didn’t mind, not one bit.


	6. Chapter 6

That ritual of Saturday night dates continued for a month and a half and as time went on, they got more and more comfortable with each other. Anthony took to staying at Ian’s, and every other Saturday he’d sleep on the pull out sofa bed and have breakfast with Ian the next morning. The only change in their routine came on a Wednesday afternoon, when Ian visited Anthony at work in some downtime.

“Hey,” Ian said casually as he let himself into Anthony’s shop. Anthony was busy inserting flowers into florists oasis, but stopped when the other man made his presence known.

“Hey, you.” Anthony stepped out from behind his counter, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something all day.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that, then?” Ian held his arms out and waited for Anthony to step into his space before hugging him tightly, kissing the side of his head lightly.

“Mmm.” Anthony surreptitiously breathed in the smell of Ian’s cologne, that fresh minty smell that had sunk into his hair and clothes after he’d spent the night filling his senses. “I wanted to ask if you wanted to come and have dinner tonight or tomorrow. And… Maybe, stay over?”

“Really?” Ian asked as he pulled away slowly. “I’d love to. Tonight’s good for me if it is for you?”

Anthony nodded with a smile plastered across his face. “Tonight. Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Let’s call it a date.” Ian winked at Anthony and enveloped him in another hug. “I need to get back to the shop, but I’ll see you after work?”

“Right. See you then.” Anthony dropped a quick peck to the side of Ian’s face before he pulled away. He felt a little more confident in making romantic advances after last Sunday morning, though he wasn’t sure he was ready for more than that just yet.

He watched Ian leave before going back to gently inserting flowers into a block of oasis.

\---

Anthony let himself finish work early that afternoon so he could get some groceries and start preparing food before Ian showed up. Full of good vibes, he unlocked the door to his apartment and let himself in, closing the door behind him with a chipper little kick.

He planned on cooking pasta for him and Ian. It was fairly simple, and Anthony knew that he made good pasta, so both of those things worked in his favour. While out, he’d also bought some candles to light around his small apartment in lieu of having the bright lights on.

While he cooked, he thought about Ian. Anthony spent most of his days thinking about Ian, so that was nothing unusual, actually. He smiled while he cooked, whipping up his signature tomato and oregano sauce in record time. He’d put the pasta on when Ian arrived and reheat the sauce. Easy.

Thinking of a way to kill time, Anthony settled on playing some Pokemon on his 3DS, considering he still hadn’t finished Omega Ruby yet. He was curled up on his sofa and engrossed in a cut scene when the door knocked, and he glanced at the clock with a smile. It could only be Ian at half past six, Anthony decided.

He opened the door to find Ian standing there, grinning. He invited Ian in and Ian didn’t need to be asked twice, obviously more comfortable in others’ houses than Anthony generally was. When Anthony asked him if he wanted to hang his jacket up, Ian shed it and revealed a plain grey t-shirt and, of course, his tattooed arms which mesmerised Anthony.

Ian put his backpack down on the floor behind the door and stretched his arms out, silently asking for a hug. Anthony was immeasurably glad that Ian didn’t seem to want to push him for more than he was giving out to him. Hugs and little kisses, (and a few steamier ones,) had become normal between them, but Anthony still wasn’t sure about anything past that. Ian was laid back about it, seeming to be content with the cuddles and kisses.

Anthony leaned into Ian and wrapped his arms around the other man, standing there for a long few moments before pulling away. “I should finish getting dinner ready, or I’ll end up standing here all night,” he joked lightly. Things had become so much easier with Ian, which was partly why Anthony had taken the big step of suggesting Ian stayed the night at his.

He didn’t have a pull out bed or an air mattress, only his own bed, though it was easily big enough for both of them to be comfortable, even if Ian did turn out to be a spread eagle sleeper. Anthony smiled to himself at the thought of finally sleeping next to Ian - he’d spent a couple of weeks convincing himself that Ian wouldn’t read too much into it, that he wouldn’t try anything Anthony didn’t want to do. It felt good to not be terribly worried about it, Anthony decided.

They chatted while Anthony made them dinner and while they ate, Ian spilling an endless stream of compliments about the food and how good it was. Anthony couldn’t stop himself from smiling brightly about the little compliments - he never considered himself a fantastic cook, but the way Ian spoke about his food made him feel like a Michelin star chef. The way Ian spoke about him in general made him feel on top of the world. Mari had told Anthony that Ian talked about him, even when he wasn’t there, like he was an angel descended from heaven the last time he’d visited the tattoo shop.

Anthony scraped the leftovers off their plates after they were finished, fishing some vegan ice cream out from his freezer and scooping the remainder of it into two bowls. They sat on the sofa together, getting progressively closer as the night wore on. Anthony ended up with his head on Ian’s lap and Ian's fingers tangled through his hair, a content smile on his face as they watched a movie together.

When Ian let out a small, stifled yawn, Anthony took it as a cue to mention his plans for the night. "Hey, so... I was thinking that maybe, when you stay tonight, we could share my bed?" Anthony chewed at his bottom lip and looked up at Ian, turning his head. 

"Yeah?" Ian responded. He smiled down at Anthony softly. "I'd like that, it'd be nice to sleep next to you. I warn you though, I'm a cuddly sleeper."

"You are? Well, I don't think that'll be a problem." Anthony sat up slowly and ran his hand through his hair. "So... How about it? Feel like falling into bed or do you wanna stay up for a while longer?"

"I could go for bed right now, honestly." Ian smiled again, and Anthony leaned over to kiss Ian softly, brushing their lips together. He set about closing the TV off, motioning for Ian to follow him to his bed in the opposite corner of his studio apartment. Ian had already changed into his pajamas earlier that night on a trip to the bathroom and Anthony had done the same, conveniently. 

Anthony pulled the duvet back and climbed under the covers. Suddenly he felt nervous about the whole thing again, but he tried his best to hide it when Ian climbed in next to him. Ian was the first to lie down, obviously far more comfortable than Anthony was, snuggling down into the covers. Anthony hesitated and flicked the lights off before lying down next to Ian, who turned onto his side and held his upper arm out. 

"C'mere," Ian whispered gently, patting Anthony's arm until he moved closer and allowed himself to be enveloped in Ian's colourful arms. Anthony lay there for a while, just enjoying the other man's company and gentle touches.

Slowly but surely he relaxed and let himself slump somewhat into Ian, leaning up against the tattooed man with a smile. Ian nudged at his head and Anthony responded by tucking his head underneath Ian's chin.

"This is really nice," Ian spoke up, “just laying here, with you. I’ve wanted to do it for a while now.” Anthony gave a sleepy nod in return, already half asleep when Ian nudged his other arm underneath his body to hold him properly, both of Ian’s hands playing with the hem of Anthony’s t-shirt.

“‘S good,” Anthony murmured against Ian’s neck, taking in deep breaths of Ian’s scent mixed with his own fabric softener. He kissed Ian’s Adam’s apple, then the side of his neck, before drifting off into a deep and restful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> smaller chapter this time, sorry! trying to work through some writer's block at the moment.

From then on, they stayed at each other’s apartments regularly, and it became a bit of a habit for them to alternate who cooked breakfast in the mornings. Anthony felt like he was getting impossibly close to Ian, who seemed to reciprocate his feelings - he’d never felt love and didn’t know if he believed in it, but whatever he felt for Ian after the couple of months they’d been together was damn close either way.

They started going on more dates as well, spending more and more time together as they got closer. Anthony started to wonder why Ian didn’t seem to be pushing for more from him, in the way of sex, at least. Anthony started to wonder if Ian was like him in that respect, and his heart flipped in his chest at the thought of it. He was standing in his shop, preparing flowers for a wedding when the train of thought randomly hit him. He’d never come out to anyone before, not even his parents or friends, yet he felt like he could trust Ian not to bolt at the mention of him being on the ace spectrum, if only because he wondered if, secretly, Ian was the same as he was.

Anthony stopped what he was doing and thought for a moment longer. He put his hands on the counter and huffed out a sigh. There was always a chance that Ian would bolt at the mention of Anthony’s grey-asexuality and that scared him. Anthony hadn’t felt so strongly about someone since he was a teenager, so he didn’t fancy losing Ian over something he couldn’t change.

Gussying up, Anthony decided that, that night when he visited Ian’s after dinner, he’d come out to him. He had no idea how to go about it or how, even, to broach the subject, but he had the rest of the day to figure that out. Part of him wanted to just announce it tactlessly, but Anthony was trying hard to think of a better way to do it than that.

\---

“I have something to tell you,” Anthony said out of the blue. Ian released his grip on Anthony’s shoulder and turned a little so he could face him. They were sitting on Ian’s bed, watching TV, when anthony decided that then was as good a time as any to broach the subject.

“What’s up?” Ian asked. He was frowning, brows knitted together with concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, it’s not like that, it’s just… There’s a couple of things about me that you don’t know. That no one knows, actually, apart from me. And I thought I should tell you, because I want to and because I feel like it’s important.” Anthony paused and waited to see Ian’s reaction. The other man was chewing his bottom lip, giving Anthony a nod that wordlessly said ‘continue’.

“I’m… It’s called grey-asexual, and grey-aromantic. And basically I guess I don’t feel romantic or sexual attraction very often. I can count the romantic and sexual crushes I’ve had in my life on one hand.” Anthony smiled faintly. “Don’t think this doesn’t mean I’m not… Attracted to you, though. Because I am. You’re one of the few people I’ve ever been attracted to in my life, but… I guess I wanted to tell you, because it might explain my hesitance, because of my… Inexperience with some things, y’know?” he sighed softly. “I’ve barely been kissed before I met you, let alone other stuff. And I just wanted you to know, so you don’t think that there’s something wrong with me, or with us.”

Ian let a few beats of silence pass over them, making sure Anthony was finished before he spoke. “It’s good to know,” Ian said finally, swiftly adding, “but it doesn’t change anything between us. It doesn’t change how I feel about you, and it won’t change how I treat you.”

Anthony lurched forwards and wrapped his arms around Ian, feeling relief wash over him. He couldn’t have hoped for a better response than that, and when Ian hugged him back just as tightly, he smiled.

“If you’re attracted to me in _that_ way,” Ian started, “and you ever want to do anything more than we do now, I’ll go slow, and I promise you that we can always stop as soon as you say so.”

“Thank you,” Anthony murmured against Ian’s neck, releasing his grip on the other man slowly. “You don’t know what it means to me to hear you say things like that, to know that you think enough of me for this to not change anything.”

“Why would it? That’s like you freaking out because I’m pansexual, it makes no sense and doesn’t change that I’m attracted to you and feel a strong connection to you.” Ian shrugged a shoulder up. “I’m just a little overwhelmed that you feel so comfortable with me that you’d come out to me before anyone else, honestly.”

Anthony blushed a little. “I just thought that you’d at least try to understand… Whereas my friends and family… They give me enough shit without misconstruing my sexuality as me being broken or abused, which I’m not.”

Anthony lay down next to Ian and curled up on his side, waiting for Ian to do the same and wind an arm over his midriff. Ian pulled Anthony closer, so they were spooning, and he peppered gentle kisses across the back of Anthony’s neck.

“I love you, no matter what,” Ian spoke quietly, giving Anthony a squeeze around his waist. Anthony hadn’t been expecting that confession of love and didn’t quite know how to deal with it. No one had said it to him before, and he didn’t even know if he felt it in return.

He took a few seconds to let his mind whir away at a hundred miles an hour. He did adore Ian, but did he love him? He did, at least as a friend, or at least he felt a lot of affection and adoration towards the other man. Was that love? Was love the little flip his heart did whenever he saw Ian? Was it the way he raked his fingers through Ian’s hair in the mornings before the other man woke up? Was love the dinners he made for Ian with love in every bite?

Anthony took a deep breath and let it out as a soft sigh. There was a pregnant pause before he placed his hand over Ian’s at his stomach and whispered an, “I love you too.” Anthony felt his heart thud hard in his chest and he knew that, deep down, he’d made the right decision to say it back. His stomach fluttered with butterflies desperate to escape and he smiled as Ian’s lips grazed the skin on his neck again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd the smut tag finally comes into play! Some very mild smut in here (or very mild by my standards anyway).

“Hey,” Anthony greeted Ian as the other man came into his apartment. He’d given Ian a key a few days earlier, on account of him being there almost every other day in the recent weeks. He was standing at the stove, cooking their dinner. He leaned down when Ian kissed his cheek, returning the pack affectionately.

“How was work?” Ian asked as he paced across the apartment to hang up his coat and toe his sneakers off, lining them up against the wall.

“Same as always,” Anthony said with a chuckle.

Since their confessions of love, things seemed to get even easier between them. Kisses came easier for Anthony, and he was getting more comfortable with the idea of going further, too. He’d been thinking about it in the week since their ‘I love you’’s. but hadn’t ever pursued it because, well… Anthony didn’t know where to start if he was honest. How did you broach the subject of wanting to grind on someone, anyway?

They sat and ate dinner together as always, conversing over a plate of steamed vegetables and quinoa. Afterwards, Ian rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, and Anthony fired up the Playstation so they could play some video games together; it was one of their favourite hobbies to engage in together after they’d found that they liked many of the same games. Anthony slid a random game into the disc tray and handed Ian the player two controller when he came to sit down.

They soon tired of playing games - after a busy week, they both just wanted to watch some mindless TV on a Friday night and cuddle together. They turned the TV on and lay on the sofa together, spooning despite the lack of room with the way they were lying.

Ian nuzzled at the back of Anthony’s hair and dotted a few kisses over the back of his neck, sending shivers up Anthony’s spine. He looped his arm over Anthony’s waist and held him close, just brushing his lips against the side of Anthony’s neck, working his way around until he was leaning up to kiss Anthony properly.

Anthony made a soft little noise at the contact, turning onto his back and dangling his one leg off the sofa so Ian could kiss him more easily. He lifted a hand up and threaded it through Ian’s hair, experimentally tugging gently at the strands. Ian huffed out a small sigh and deepened the kiss, tracing the seam of Anthony’s lips with the tip of his tongue. He moved slowly and languidly, and the kiss washed over Anthony like a wave of honey flowing through his veins.

Anthony’s fingers tightened in Ian’s hair as his other hand came up to rest on Ian’s side, idly stroking the others’ hip. He let his tongue meet Ian’s carefully while his hand pushed just slightly at the hem of Ian’s t-shirt so he could rub his fingers over the warm, exposed skin.

He was glad that Ian seemed keen for him to set the pace with most of their kisses, and hoped that trend would continue when he felt ready to take things further which, he was surprised to discover when he’d really thought about it, might have been sooner than he’d ever thought it would be. Barely a few months into their relationship and Anthony was comfortable with long, lazy make out sessions, even if he did find himself feeling bad when Ian inevitably got up afterwards, shuffling to the bathroom red faced to relieve himself as it were. He chastised himself inwardly, then reminded himself not to feel bad about stopping when things got too heavy for him.

Idly, Anthony smiled faintly into the kiss when Ian pushed his shirt up a little and thumbed over his hipbone. The touch sent a shiver up his spine and Anthony found himself moving his hands to Ian’s shoulders when the tattooed man broke away, his lips reddened and shiny.

“Mmm, love getting to kiss you,” Ian murmured, dropping a kiss to the corner of Anthony’s lips. “Do… Do you mind if I lay on you?” He laughed. “That sounds weirder than I intended it to. I mean… Like this.”

Ian moved so he was lying half on top of Anthony, one leg wedged between Anthony’s and the other pressed into the couch cushions. Anthony thought for a second before nodding.

“No, that’s okay.” Anthony leaned up and captured Ian’s lips again. He felt good about his decision, small sparks flying from his lips and down through his body when Ian kissed back and nipped playfully at his bottom lip. Ian smiled and Anthony did the same, his fingers tightening on Ian’s shoulders as he let out a soft noise when Ian’s leg pressed up against him.

“Y’alright?” Ian mumbled against Anthony’s lips, and Anthony nodded, just slightly, so as not to break the kiss. “Okay, good.” Ian broke the kiss, just for a moment so he could say, “Tell me if I’m moving too fast.”

Anthony nodded again, and then Ian was kissing him again. His face started to burn up as he kissed back, both of his hands knotting in the back of Ian’s hair. Experimentally, Anthony rolled his hips up against Ian’s leg. He let out another soft noise and tipped his head back, pleased when Ian took the initiative and moved to kiss at his neck instead.

Ian clearly knew what he was doing, because every time his lips or teeth grazed at Anthony’s neck he let out a small mewl of contentment, the noises seemingly beyond his control. Anthony shuddered underneath Ian, his hands releasing their grip on Ian’s hair to trail down his back and sides, feeling the flush in his face making its way down his chest and to his groin. Anthony blushed deeper and gave Ian a nudge.

“I… I’ve never been this far with anyone,” he admitted quietly. “Are you sure you don’t mind if I ask you to stop, or something? I’m just… Nervous.”

Ian lifted his head and shook it. “I don’t mind, not even slightly. Just tell me, or shove me off, or hit me in the arm, whatever you prefer.” He smiled down at Anthony and pecked his lips, lifting a hand up to card it through Anthony’s curly hair. “Just do it and, I promise you, I’ll stop.”

“Thank you,” Anthony breathed, pulling Ian down so he could hug the other man tightly for a moment. Letting up on his grip, he let Ian go back to kissing his neck and barely exposed collarbones, shivering at the way the other man’s beard felt brushing against his skin.

He gave another experimental roll of his hips and felt his whole body tingle pleasantly, though the sensation was concentrated on his groin and hips. A soft moan escaped his mouth and Ian seemed pleased about it, smiling up against his skin before lifting his head and going back to kissing Anthony, all soft tongue and swollen lips.

Ian’s one hand coasted down Anthony’s side and easily hooked underneath him, his hand clutching gently at Anthony’s ass through his jeans. Anthony let a gasp escape his lips before he resumed kissing at Ian’s lips, the kiss growing a little more fervent and needy on both sides as time went on. Ian ground down against Anthony, using his grip on the man underneath him to pull Anthony down against his leg.

Anthony breathed out a quiet, ‘Hnnn, fuck,’ under his breath. He’d never allowed someone else to get so close to him, or to make him feel like this, and it was all a little overwhelming for him. He felt safe though, and cared for, and knew that he could stop Ian at any point, (it wouldn’t be the first time he’d stopped things before the inevitable ‘conclusion’,) without any bad feelings towards him. That, along with the blood pooling in his crotch, was what spurred Anthony on to kiss his way down Ian’s jaw and onto his neck, giving what he hoped was a teasing little flick of his hips.

He mouthed at the pulse point below Ian’s ear, trying out grazing his teeth along Ian’s skin like Ian had done to him. Ian’s fingers squeezed at his ass and pulled him down again, and Anthony gave a slightly louder moan, his face burning red hot with embarrassment and arousal. Judging from Ian’s erection pressing up against his hip, he wasn’t the only worked up one though, which served to ease his nerves a little.

Rolling his hips up slightly more insistently, Anthony pulled back and let his head fall against the sofa cushion. Ian hovered over him, giving him a soft kiss as he pressed his leg up and made Anthony shiver and rock his hips up rhythmically.

“Still okay?” Ian murmured. He used his grip on Anthony to hold his hips up against his own.

“Y-yeah,” Anthony said with another shiver that racked his whole body. “I’m good,” he confirmed, rocking his hips as much as he could with Ian holding him up.

“Alright, just checking in on you,” Ian said softly, with a smile. Anthony’s heart swelled at the other man’s constant expressions of love and the way Ian ensured that he was alright at every turn.

When Ian ducked his head to kiss Anthony again, he ground harder down against him and let out a groan. Anthony thought he could get used to that noise, the sound being a simple, small thing that made him pulse inside his jeans. He slipped a hand down Ian’s back and gripped at his backside with it, tucking his hand into the back pocket of Ian’s jeans and taking the bold move of pulling Ian’s hips down against his.

“God, Ian,” Anthony moaned out, and with the next roll of his hips he felt stars dance behind his eyes and his heart thud harder. He came suddenly, a blush colouring his cheeks even further than before as he started the glassy-eyed come down.

As soon as he was coming down, he felt embarrassed at having come so quickly, but Ian shushed him with kisses and stroked his hair comfortingly.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, blushing again as he felt Ian twitch against his hip. When Ian went to get up, Anthony shook his head and used his hand tucked into Ian’s back pocket to pull him down again. “Where you going?”

“I thought I should go… Y’know.” Ian chuckled and kissed at Anthony’s forehead.

“No, stay. I mean…” Anthony fumbled over his words and settled on using actions instead, rolling his hips up again while holding Ian down.

Ian formed an ‘o’ shape with his lips before nodding a couple of times. He nipped Anthony’s lips and rutted up against him for a few moments longer before letting out a long groan of Anthony’s name. Anthony didn’t think he’d ever get rid of that sound from his mind, and the image of Ian tipping his head back and groaning would be etched behind his eyelids for a long time.

“Love you,” Ian eventually spoke, delicately kissing Anthony’s lips and then the corners of his mouth. They separated slowly, and Ian was the first to grimace. “Eugh, I think I need to go get cleaned up.”

“Me too,” Anthony said with a nod, leaning up on his elbows. He smiled at Ian, and promptly blushed again. “Thanks. For tonight, I mean.”

“You don’t need to thank me every time we try something new, y’know,” Ian teased, getting up off the sofa and holding a hand out to Anthony. “Come on, let’s go get cleaned up and get to bed.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Do y’ feel like taking a bath together?” Ian asked sleepily one night while they were curled up on the sofa, Ian with his head in Anthony’s lap and Anthony with his fingers threaded through Ian’s hair. Anthony was a little unsure about the idea - after all it would be the first time they’d seen each other completely naked and bathing together seemed very intimate.

“I don’t know,” Anthony answered truthfully, and Ian nodded.

“Alright, well… Think on it and let me know if you wanna, if not I’ll go take a shower once this episode is done.” Ian smiled up at Anthony and then went back to watching the TV.

Anthony had noted Ian’s ease with intimacy and envied him a little for it. He was sure that, had he been more experienced, he’d be more at ease with it too, but considering no one else had seen him naked for years, (since he was a very liberal, exhibitionist child in fact,) intimacy and nudity even without sex made him nervous.

He waited a few minutes, thinking about whether or not to take Ian up on his offer, before speaking up again. “Do you mean, just take a bath together, or did you mean, like, doing stuff?” He felt silly for asking, but if it was just a bath he was more keen on that idea at that point in time.

“Just a bath, that’s all,” Ian said with a smile. “It’s nice taking a bath with someone else, it brings you closer, I think.”

“Okay.” Anthony smiled back and let out a little sigh. “I’ll try it, then.”

“No pressure. If you get to taking off your shirt and don’t wanna do it anymore, that’s fine, you know that right?” Ian reached up and cupped Anthony’s cheek briefly.

Anthony nodded. He knew he hadn’t often taken Ian up on the offer of putting a stop to whatever they were doing on account of the other man being understanding and taking things at Anthony’s pace, but knowing that Ian didn’t mind him stopping them dead in their tracks if he was uncomfortable was important to him and just one of a myriad of factors which made him fall deeper in love each day.

And, finally, Anthony was certain it was love. He’d done a lot of soul searching over that since their confessions of adoration and he was sure that what he felt was actually love. For the first time, he’d fallen for someone else and while it was unexpected, it felt wonderful.

“I know,” Anthony finally said, untangling his fingers from Ian’s hair as the other sat up slowly. Ian’s hair was sticking up at strange angles, pushed back from his face. Anthony thought he looked amazing all the same. Even when his hair was sticking up and he was wearing ratty old hoodies and sweatpants, Anthony thought that Ian was irrevocably handsome. From his bright blue eyes which shone brighter than the sun on the ocean to the tattoos which wrapped and coiled around his body in colourful swirls, Anthony loved every part of Ian, even on lazy days.

Smiling softly at the thoughts of Ian, Anthony suddenly blushed at the thought of seeing him without clothes. He’d seen him shirtless countless times on account of Ian preferring to sleep that way, but he’d never seen anyone else naked, let alone Ian. The thought made his blush deepen further as he stood up and stretched.

“You ready to take a long bubble bath, then?” Ian questioned softly, standing up and taking one of Anthony’s hands in his own. His skin was warm and soft as always, his grip firm but loving.

“Yeah, I think so,” Anthony replied with a small smile.

He followed Ian through his apartment and into the bathroom. It was bigger than his own was, with a larger tub and a wide shower head which Anthony loved to stand under in the mornings. Ian easily stripped off down to his boxers, meanwhile Anthony hesitated before taking his hoodie off, leaving him shirtless but still in pajama pants and boxers.

Ian stepped towards Anthony and placed one hand on his chest, the other coming up to caress the side of Anthony’s face.

“You okay?” Ian asked. Anthony gave a reassuring nod and Ian gave him a gentle kiss on the lips in return. “Come on, let’s get you out of those PJ bottoms, huh?” Smiling, Ian slowly but carefully brought his hands down to Anthony’s hips, where he rested them lightly, waiting to make sure Anthony was okay.

“I’m fine, just nervous,” Anthony said quietly. He nodded at Ian and put his hands over the other man’s, guiding them to push his pajama pants down. Anthony carefully stepped out of them and blushed faintly when Ian pulled away to start running the water.

“We can keep our boxers on, if you’d like?” Putting the plug in the tub, Ian straightened up and turned to Anthony again, who was trying modestly to cover himself up. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, alright? We can stop anytime, just say so.”

“No, I’m alright.” Anthony sighed out. “And… I want to do this properly, want to… I dunno. Feel you, and stuff. But, you might have to go first,” he motioned to Ian’s boxers and Ian shrugged.

“Alright, no problem.” As easily as that, he pulled his boxers off and smiled at Anthony, stepping towards him again and putting his hands on the spots at Anthony’s hips where his boxers met his skin. He asked, “You sure?” one last time, and Anthony nodded, once again guiding Ian’s hands down his hips, pulling his boxers with them.

He felt exposed and vulnerable, standing in Ian’s bathroom with nothing on, and he covered himself with his hands shyly. Ian seemed more comfortable, not bothering with covering himself as he poured in some bubbles and then shut the water off and tested it with one of his hands. Anthony envied Ian’s ease, but all the same was glad that the other man wasn’t shy as it served to put him more at ease with his body as well.

Ian turned to face Anthony once more. “Do you wanna get in first, or should I?” He asked.

“You first.” Anthony was still covering himself when Ian climbed into the bath and sat down. He watched Ian get comfortable before the other motioned for him to get in as well.

Anthony went to sit at the opposite end of the tub but earned a small disgruntled noise from Ian, who gently touched his thigh.

“Come and sit with me,” he offered, and Anthony shyly turned around and sat down with his back to Ian.

Ian curled an arm around Anthony’s waist and pulled him backwards, until Anthony’s back was pressed against his chest tightly. He kept his hand on Anthony’s stomach and let out a contented sigh.

Now he was covered by the bubbles, Anthony moved his hands to the sides of the tub, unsure of where else to place them.

“This is nice,” Ian murmured, resting his chin on Anthony’s shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s… Nicer than I thought it might be.” Anthony still felt a little awkward, but that was dissipating the more time he spent unclothed around Ian. He kept reasoning that it was only a body, and that everyone had one, and everyone who had one had flaws upon that body too, even Ian.

Anthony carefully sank one of his hands under the water and briefly touched Ian’s thigh. Ian smiled and nodded, and that was all he needed to more firmly place his hand on Ian’s tattooed leg.

They lay there for a short while, Ian’s hand stroking over Anthony’s stomach lightly and Anthony’s hand on Ian’s thigh. It was comfortable after a while, Anthony discovered, and liberating too. Ian hadn’t picked fault with any part of his body, nor commented on anything out of turn. Maybe he could go back to sleeping in his boxers instead of virtually frying in a sweater and pajama pants all night after this, Anthony thought.

The silence in the room was comfortable rather than awkward. They sat together in the tub, just enjoying the others’ company and the closeness of the situation they were in. Ian was the first to talk, after brushing his lips to Anthony’s bare shoulder.

“Want me to wash your back?” He offered. Anthony thought for a second before shrugging.

“Uh… Yeah, sure.” Anthony had to stifle a giggle when Ian’s hand brushed over one of his ticklish spots on its way to unwind from around his waist. Ian reached behind them and picked up a bar of soap from where it lay on the side of the tub. He dunked it into the water before rubbing it slowly over Anthony’s back.

Anthony leaned forwards to let Ian rub his back more easily, and it felt really good to have someone else’s hands on his back for some reason. It felt even better when Ian placed the soap on the side of the tub again and instead massaged gently over Anthony’s back with his fingertips.

Ian spent an inordinate amount of time rubbing his hands over Anthony’s back, cooing soft affirmations every now and then. He picked up a washcloth and used it to rinse the soap off Anthony’s back slowly, taking his time. The moment seemed to last forever, so much so that Anthony almost drifted off to sleep when he lay back against Ian once more and silence fell over them again.

“Hey, sleepy,” Ian joked, nudging Anthony and rubbing his hand where he’d replaced it on Anthony’s stomach. “We should get out now, the bath’s going cold and I don’t want you to get a chill.”

“Mmm,” Anthony opened his eyes and shifted forwards so Ian could get out first without tripping over him.

Ian clambered out and picked up a large towel off the heated rack. He wrapped it around his back and held his arms open. “C’mere.”

Anthony pulled the plug and set it on the side of the bath before shyly climbing out, covering himself slightly with one hand. He took a few steps towards Ian, and Ian closed the gap between them. The tattooed man wrapped Anthony in the towel and rubbed at his shoulders.

“Love you,” he said softly, adoringly looking into Anthony’s eyes. Ian leaned in and kissed Anthony softly, sucking at his bottom lip before he pulled away.

“Love you too,” Anthony said, the sentiment coming easier every time he said it.


	10. Chapter 10

“Ian?” Anthony sighed softly, walking over to the other man and gently pulling his headphones off his head.

By the time he’d got out of work that day, after a busy day preparing flowers for not one, but two, weddings, Anthony was mentally exhausted and his hands hurt. He was a little grumpy, but seeing Ian sitting in his apartment, waiting for him to get out of work, made him feel instantly a little better. Ian had also cooked dinner, which was still bubbling away in the oven.

“Oh, hey. Didn’t hear you come in.” Ian stood up from his place on the sofa, discarding his iPod and headphones after pausing them, and kissed Anthony softly. “Long day?” He asked, and Anthony just gave a grunt in response, leaning his head heavily against Ian’s chest.

Ian stroked Anthony’s hair soothingly and kissed the top of his head.

“Yeah. Two weddings, and I have another one tomorrow to prepare for.” Anthony pulled back reluctantly and stifled a yawn. “What’s for dinner?”

“Just that vegan mac and cheese you had the recipe for, nothing too fancy.”

“Mm, comfort food. Good. I think I deserve it after the day I’ve had.” Anthony rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the scritch of his beard growing back in under his fingers.

“Why don’t you go and put some PJs on and get into bed? We can eat on the bed for once, it won’t hurt.” Ian offered a small smile and patted Anthony on the arm. “Go on. I’ll get dinner plated up for us.”

“Thank you.” Anthony padded to where his bed was and picked out some clean pajama bottoms and a hoodie. He eyed Ian’s hoodie that was thrown on the bed and instead decided to pull that on, feeling warm and safe inside the soft fabric.

“Wearing my hoodies now?” Ian teased, walking over to the bed with two bowls of mac and cheese. He handed one to Anthony and got onto the bed, beckoning to the other man. “Come, sit. Let’s eat and watch bad movies together all night.”

Dinner was scarfed down in record time. Anthony hadn’t known how hungry he was until there was food in front of him, and he vaguely remembered not having the time to eat at all that day. Ian spirited away the dirty bowls and forks once they were finished, keen on Anthony not doing much of anything. Anthony was lying down by the time Ian came back across the apartment and flopped down next to him.

He cuddled up to Ian and kissed the tattooed man softly, faintly tasting soda on Ian’s lips. Ian wrapped his arms around Anthony and pulled away to grab the remote.  
By the time the first movie was done, Anthony was bored. The first film hadn’t even been laughably bad, it was just overall terrible. He was half asleep when Ian nudged him gently and leaned down to kiss him again, gently but passionately.

“I feel like you’re way too tense,” Ian murmured between kisses to Anthony’s lips. “Want me to help you relax?”

“How’d you mean?” Anthony asked. He pecked Ian’s lips. “A back rub would be amazing.”

“Then a back rub you shall have.” Ian was grinning when he pulled away, motioning for Anthony to take his shirt off.

Anthony was still a little shy about being anything but fully clothed around Ian, but their bath together and subsequent nights of sleeping only in boxers had helped him to overcome the nerves a little. Shedding Ian’s hoody and the t-shirt he’d kept on underneath it, Anthony shivered a little at the cool air in the room before lying down on his front, his head turned to the side on his pillows.

“I don’t have any oil or anything, so this might suck a little,” Ian admitted, pulling a face. He clambered onto Anthony and straddled his hips, sitting across the other man’s butt. “I’ve always been told I give good back rubs, though,” he smoothed Anthony’s hair down before starting, working his fingers through the knots of tension in Anthony’s shoulders and upper back.

“‘S because you’re good with your hands,” Anthony joked, hissing through his teeth when Ian got to a particularly painful and tense muscle in his shoulder. “I’m sure a massage from me would feel horrible.”

“I bet it’d be amazing, shh.” Ian bent down and kissed the back of Anthony’s neck, straightening up so he could continue his ministrations.

Anthony found himself relaxed and pliant after about half an hour. There was no doubting that Ian did give good massages, Anthony thought, as the other man moved down his legs a little and started to work on his lower back.

“Y’alright?” Ian asked, and Anthony just gave a boneless nod and a small yawn in reply. “You still feel a bit tense,” Ian pointed out, his thumbs digging into Anthony’s spine with just the right amount of pressure to feel good.

“Yeah? I feel good, though.” Anthony wriggled a little under Ian and leaned up on his elbows. “I think I’m good now.”

“Yeah? Want me to stop?” Ian asked, giving Anthony’s spine one last long, firm stroke with his thumbs before pulling away and awkwardly flopping onto the bed next to the other man. “Feeling better?” He leaned over to kiss Anthony softly, and Anthony caught Ian’s lips in a more passionate kiss when he went to pull away.

There was no denying that Ian was good at massages, and if Anthony was honest the combination of pressure on his spine and Ian’s hands all over him had left him a little worked up. Ian made a surprised noise when Anthony traced his lips with his tongue, but he parted his lips all the same, lying back against their pillows with a smile.

“You’re evidently feeling much better than when we started,” Ian teased. Anthony pulled back and pulled a face at Ian, contemplating his options for a second before he blushed.

“Is it alright if I get on top of you?” Anthony’s face burned redder, even when Ian nodded and held his arms out, obviously open to the idea. Anthony sat across Ian’s stomach and leaned back, nervously tracing his fingers over Ian’s clothed chest.

“Hey, don’t be so nervous,” Ian murmured. He reached a hand up and rested it comfortingly on Anthony’s side, warm fingers pressing just slightly into his skin.

Anthony bent at the waist and kissed Ian again. It turned quickly from a series of chaste pecks to a deeper kiss, Ian’s tongue exploring Anthony’s mouth slowly and languidly. Ian pressed his hips up slightly, testing the waters as it were, and Anthony pressed down a moment later, more insistently.

Anthony and Ian had occasionally got heated since the last time, but they’d never gone further than just grinding with their clothes on, which suited both of them for a while, but Anthony found himself wanting to explore his sexuality more with Ian, now he knew that the other man wouldn’t laugh about his inexperience and would take things at his pace.

Slowly, Anthony moved himself backwards and broke the kiss, trailing his lips down to Ian’s neck. Ian’s hand moved from his side to his hip, and the other man used his grip to gently encourage Anthony to grind down against him. Ian made a soft noise in the back of his throat and tipped his head back, which just spurred Anthony on and had him leaving open mouthed kisses along Ian’s jaw line while he ground his hips down slowly and deliberately.

Anthony had learned a lot about himself from his little talks with himself and his more heated encounters with Ian. He’d learned that he enjoyed sexual things, even if that didn’t seem to extend to anyone outside of Ian, for a start, which had been something of a shock to Anthony as he’d never even really thought about sex with someone else before getting involved with Ian. Sure, he masturbated and had watched porn a few times, but that was very different to actually doing things with another living, breathing, human being.

Anthony was snapped from his thoughts when Ian ground up against him and moaned. He could feel the other man’s hardness up against the inside of his thigh and he felt a little shock of pleasure go through his body at that revelation. Ian moved his hand from Anthony’s hip and skimmed it across the front of his pajama bottoms, ushering a groan from Anthony’s lips.

His face burned red hot at the contact, but he didn’t stop Ian from more definitely placing his hand over the bulge in his pants.

“Is this alright?” Ian asked, two fingers on his free hand hooking underneath Anthony’s chin to bring Anthony’s gaze up to his eyes again.

Anthony nodded a couple of times, turning his head in to Ian’s touch. “Yeah, it’s okay, it’s good,” he rambled, unsure of how far Ian was going to go. He felt safe in the knowledge, though, that he could say ‘no’ at any time, so he relaxed somewhat.

Ian smiled and said, “Okay,” letting go of Anthony’s chin so he could place his free hand on Anthony’s side. His other hand gripped lightly at Anthony through two thin layers of material, drawing another small moan from Anthony’s mouth. He’d never let anyone touch him that way before, but god, it felt good.

Anthony’s face burned slightly at the noises escaping his mouth, but all the same he trailed one of his hands down Ian’s stomach and rested it, his hand slightly shaking, on the bulge in the other man’s jeans. He felt Ian twitch slightly through the fabric and secretly felt a little triumphant at the fact that he’d caused that to happen.

Anthony felt a little bit at a loss as to what to do then, so he let Ian lead the way. When the other man started to gently knead through the fabric, Anthony felt like the wind had been knocked from his lungs. He realised then that this was very different to doing it to yourself. Ian smirked a little and carried on with his actions, until Anthony gently pushed his hand away.

“Too much,” he explained, blushing. “Don’t wanna, not yet.” Ian knowingly nodded and pressed his hips up against Anthony’s hand. Anthony thought for a moment before swallowing and pulling his hand off of Ian. “Take… Take your jeans off?” He mumbled questioningly.

“Alright, but you’re gonna have to move first,” Ian pointed out, playfully gripping Anthony’s hips and promptly flipping them over, so he was lying between Anthony’s legs. He grinned down at Anthony before sitting back on his knees so he could take off his t-shirt, then unfasten his jeans and awkwardly shimmy them off. Ian kicked them off the bed before affectionately running his hands up Anthony’s lower legs. “Do you wanna take your PJ pants off, too? Or no?”

Anthony thought for a moment, before nodding. “Okay, yeah.” Ian reached up and hooked his fingers under the waistband of Anthony’s pants, gently tugging them down his legs. Once they were off and discarded, and Anthony was blushing furiously at being hard inside his boxers in front of Ian, Ian leaned up and kissed Anthony gently, supporting himself on one arm while his other hand came up to cup Anthony’s cheek.

“Love you,” Ian murmured, and Anthony mumbled it back, letting out a faint gasp when Ian’s hand moved from his cheek, down to his chest and then to his stomach, the tattooed man’s hand resting on his lower belly just above where his boxers met his skin. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Anthony said softly, and then Ian’s hand was on him again. The difference one layer of fabric being removed could make was astounding, and Anthony felt like he could feel every detail of Ian’s hand through the fabric of his boxers. He arched his back involuntarily, relaxing back into the mattress with a low, short groan as he traced his hand down Ian’s now bare chest, fingers circling a couple of the tattoos etched there.

Ian hooked a finger underneath the waistband of Anthony’s boxers and tugged gently. Anthony murmured softly and lifted his hips up, silently saying that it was okay to remove them. Even though his face burned red hot and a shot of embarrassment leaked through his veins, Anthony was determined not to let either of those facts ruin anything.

Ian shed his own boxers as well and Anthony moaned at the sight, feeling himself twitch and harden a little further. Ian just shook his head and grinned, though there was the faintest of blushes colouring his face as well. He leaned over Anthony again and pressed their lower halves together, drawing a moan from both of them as hot skin met hot skin.

Anthony hesitated, then hooked a leg up onto Ian’s hip, blushing slightly more at his actions. Ian didn’t seem to mind though, because he supported himself on one arm while the other hand busied itself with running up from the back of Anthony’s thigh, down to his knee, and back again.

“So gorgeous,” Ian said softly. He kissed at Anthony’s neck, then his collarbones, before lifting his head and catching Anthony’s lips with his teeth and then his lips. The hand that had been on Anthony’s thigh moved to caress his stomach, and then Ian’s hand was wrapped around both of their lengths.

Anthony moaned loud, throwing one of his arms over his face to hide the reddening of his cheeks and muffle any further noises that rose from his chest. Ian chuckled lightly and ducked his head, returning to kissing Anthony’s neck around his Adam’s apple, sucking lightly on a pulse point, as he started to move his hand, stroking both of them slowly.

He ran his thumb over the head of Anthony’s length, and Anthony groaned, bucking his hips into Ian’s grip forcefully.

“Woah there, tiger,” Ian teased easily. His breathing was coming heavier and he let out a small choked noise of his own when he thumbed over their tips again. “Feels good?”

“So good.” Anthony uncovered his face again and locked his eyes on Ian, all but panting as the man above him worked his hand over them, alternating pace between agonisingly slow and fast enough to make Anthony’s head swim. “God, Ian, ‘m gonna…”

With an arch of his back and a moan which echoed around the apartment, Anthony felt white heat dance behind his eyelids as he came over Ian’s hand. He took a few long moments to come down from his high before shakily reaching his hand down and curling it around Ian.

It felt different to getting himself off, and not just from the different angle. Ian was thicker and harder than he ever got, pulsing slightly against Anthony’s palm with every small move he made. Pulling his hand away, Ian looked down between them to watch Anthony’s hand moving over his length slowly and he let out a low groan.

Anthony sped his hand up just slightly and that was enough to have Ian groaning under his touch. For a few long moments, Anthony felt pretty powerful. Ian reached down and gripped Anthony’s hand, guiding it more to the tip of his length; Anthony took the initiative and stroked in fast, short bursts until Ian screwed his eyes shut and came with a choked moan of Anthony’s name.

Both panting and slightly sticky with sweat, they lay there for a few moments just kissing and nuzzling each others’ faces. Ian reached his clean hand up and pushed Anthony’s curling hair back from his face, petting the silky strands.


End file.
